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Support Groups Play an Intricate Role in my Recovery

Lately I've been slacking in recovery and not participating in support groups for a number of reasons. I think depression has been creeping up on me as a result of not going to support groups and working as much. I lacked motivation to carry out house chores and to complete other easy tasks until recently (yesterday). For me I must have a productive schedule in order to stay well. Being productive to me is either volunteering or working, and engaging in advocacy. I recognize that I must stay involved in support groups to maintain and strengthen my coping skills like other treatment regimens such as taking my medication.

Last night I went to a support group which made me analyze what was going on with me. I had not been to a support group in about a month and being back was refreshing. Now I realize that going to support groups every week is still vital to my recovery.

If you would like to participate in a support group whether you are an individual living with mental illness or a family member I strongly encourage you to visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for free educational classes and support groups.

To learn more about schizophrenia visit NAMI, Choices in Recovery, and Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia (Canada).

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Anonymous said…
Your blog is very interesting and enlightening - my younger sister had a 'break' about 3-4 months ago. She is 32 and never had anything like this happen - but she was slowly doing and saying odd things - until finally she spoke about being fearful of the rapture, that God told her she was an angel, and paranoia about the government creating terror acts like the Boston bombing being fake. My mom and I and her husband all were alarmed and concerned - we spoke to her to try to get her help. She finally agreed but only went for a month and now she is in denial that anything is wrong with her. She has three young daughters, ages 12, 7 and 3, and we are very concerned for her and them. She has now pushed me, my mom and her husband away and wont call us or see us. We are having a hard time getting her to see she has some kind of illnesss- we dont know what because she only saw psychologist and psychiatrist a few times in a month and didnt get to diagnose her. My mom and I have been to a few NAMI meetings and have been helpful. Any advice on how to reach her at this point? Your story gives me hope that she can get better with medication and treatment - but until we can get her to agree to that, its very difficult. Thanks for any thoughts you can share.
June 30, 2013 at 7:39 PM
Anonymous said…
I know that feeling. It's hard to stay on top of such a demanding mental illness but it's well worth it in terms of life success and self improvement.
July 3, 2013 at 3:23 AM
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